Stuck between a rock and a hard place

I was in the same position before I started back. It’s really a case of knocking on as many doors as possible and hopefully finding one that will offer the opportunity for you to do an assessment. If you get through that then previous references etc. mean diddly squat and it’s unlikely the employer will bother with them. From personal experience if you haven’t driven for a while you will hopefully find things easier with auto boxes, driver aids etc.